Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Classes, Classes, Classes!

Here's our teens cooling off in the creek after class!

Catastrophic Kitchen Chicken Nuggets:

Emily is the apple of our Alyssa is learning to prepare

eye. chicken.

The teens went to the UT Extension Office this week for a class led by Kitty. They practiced their knife safety skills and ability to follow a recipe. The dish of the day was a Poppyseed Chicken Salad with strawberries and apples. The kids were skeptical at first, but they were fighting for the last bite by the end of the class! They all took a recipe home and plan to make this for their families. This week they also met with Kitty to make pizzas and at the farm to learn about drying herbs!

The V-Team:

Kayla, from the office, led the class on rain barrels. The teens painted them and learned all about their use. Rain barrels can collect rainwater o be used to water the garden. It is a historic farming practice. the teens enjoyed the class very much and some even said they would like to use the practice on their own gardens!

Friday, June 10, 2016

Four young ladies who graduated from the Farm and Food Teen Training Program in the last few years have returned as interns. They spent the morning hard at work in the rabbit barn that houses mini rex, angora and meat rabbits. They scrubbed enclosures, cleaned the barn and groomed the angoras. Great job, ladies!

While the interns were hard at work, Miss Debbie taught a class about food preservation. The teens will soon be in the kitchen at First Presbyterian Church, one of our important and much appreciated community partners, to get some hands-on experience with making jam. Some of us are hoping a jar will find its way to the office. We will gladly serve as volunteer taste testers!

Farmer Melissa kept busy -- as always -- harvesting produce and flowers and preparing them for market. In addition to CSAs, she hosts a unique outdoor dining and movie experience at her River House Farm. You can find out more about that on Facebook and Instagram @riverhousefarm.

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And littlest, but certainly not least, our little sprouts in Farm Day Camp learned about worms and how seeds sprout. Robin and Joy kept it fun and provided many experiential learning opportunities along the way.

Whew! Summer has barely begun and the farm is already a busy place! You won't want to miss out on any of it, so check our website and Facebook page often to keep in touch -- or better yet, come on down and see us!

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

On June 2, "Catastrophic Kitchen Chicken Nuggets" met out at the farm under the new pavilion for a preservation class. Janice Graf, the mother of our own Debbie Strickland, led the class on making strawberry jam! The teens learned how to sterilize the jars, use pectin to thicken, and use basic canning equipment including the hot water bath canner.

Say hello to Taylor Boles and The V-Team!
Taylor Boles is Rural Resources new Garden Manager! Taylor is going to college for Environmental Engineering. She has attended Warren Wilson and Walter's State. She is in charge of teaching the teens all about how to maintain a garden. They've covered pest management, plants diseases, garden maintenance, and worm composting. Every teen has the opportunity to take home some "worm tea" which is a liquid fertilizer.

Interns!

This summer we have six interns working with Rural Resources. We have teens working in the office, with the rabbits, and at the Soup Kitchen with Mary Goldwin. Our interns will be very busy with summer!

First Little Sprouts

Here we have this week's Farm Day Campers. We are in for some eventful weeks and the spots have been filling up quick! We caught them under the Rotary Pavilion after having a wonderful time in the creek. Summer is kicking off to a great start with this bunch!